Shadow of Doubt (17 page)

“What do you mean, shouting?”

“Two people were yelling at each other. A man and a woman.”

“Did you hear what they were saying?”

I shook my head.

“But it sounded like they were fighting,” I said. “Then I heard a crash.”

“A crash?”

“Like something heavy had been dropped or thrown. Ms. Denholm must have heard it too, because she stopped and looked up. So did I. I saw a face at the window.”

“Which window?”

“Up on the third floor. It was one of the windows in Ms. Rachlis's apartment. Her apartment is at the back of the house. Ms. Denholm's looks out over the front.”

“The face you saw, do you know whose it was? Did you recognize it?”

I shook my head. “It happened too fast. It was only there for a second or two. All I know is that the lights were on in the apartment and someone looked out. But I couldn't make out who it was. Then I heard more shouting and a thumping sound. It got louder and louder—like someone was running down the stairs.”

“What about Melissa Denholm? What was she doing while this was going on?”

“She was standing near the back door, but she backed away when she heard the thumps. For a minute it looked like she was going to go back to her car. I think she was scared.”

“What makes you say that?”

“She
looked
scared,” I said.

“What happened next?”

“I heard someone scream. It was Ms. Rachlis. She screamed, ‘He's got a knife. He's going to kill me.'”

Charlie Hart leaned in close.

“She said he had a knife?”

I nodded.

“And you heard her say he was going to kill her?”

“Yes. And he was shouting.”

“He? Mikhail Mornov?”

“Yes. He was shouting something, but I couldn't make out what it was because Ms. Rachlis was screaming so loud. She came running out through the door. It looked like she was bleeding here.” I touched the left side of my forehead.

“It was pretty dark back there, Robyn,” Charlie Hart said.

“I saw her face when the back door opened. There was a light on in the stairwell.” He nodded. “Then the man—Mornov—ran out of the house right behind her.”

“Did you get a good look at him?”

“I got a good enough look to know it was him. I'd seen him before. But after he and Ms. Rachlis ran out of the house, the door closed behind them. There weren't any lights.”

“Did you see if he was carrying anything?”

I shook my head.

“It was too dark. But after—” I had to blink back the picture that flashed before my eyes. “After he was shot, I saw a knife lying on the ground beside him.”

“Then what happened, Robyn?”

I closed my eyes so that I could visualize the sequence of events.

“Ms. Rachlis screamed at Ms. Denholm to help her. She said that he had a knife and that he was trying to kill her. That's when Ms. Denholm shot him.”

“Ms. Denholm shot Mikhail Mornov?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know where she got the gun?”

“It used to belong to her mother. She had it for protection. Ted took it away from her.”

“You mean her father, Ted Gold?”

“Yes. He took it away. I thought she'd left it at his place like Ms. Rachlis told her to.”

“Tell me about the shooting,” Charlie Hart said.

“When Ms. Rachlis ran out of the house bleeding, Ms. Denholm took the gun out of her pocket. At first she just stood there. I didn't think she was actually going to use it. Mornov was chasing Ms. Rachlis, and she was running toward Ms. Denholm and screaming. Ms. Denholm shot him.”

“Do you remember how many times she fired the gun?”

How do you forget something like that?

“Five times.” She had hit him twice. He hadn't been far from her when she fired. I'd seen his hands reach out, as if he were going to slash at Ms. Rachlis or maybe attack Ms. Denholm. “She fired the gun five times.”

“And then what happened?”

“We just stood there for a few minutes. I think we were all in shock.” I know I was. At least that's what I told myself. “Except for Ben. Ben tried to help him.”

Ben had dashed to where Mikhail Mornov was lying, dropped to his knees, and pulled off his gloves. He reached out. I caught my breath, imagining that Mornov would rise up, grab the knife again, and stab Ben. Ben pressed two fingers against the man's neck, feeling for a pulse. He must have found one because he tore off his jacket, folded it quickly, and pressed it hard against Mornov's chest.

“Find a phone,” he said to me, his voice eerily calm. “Call 9-1-1. Then come back here and help me. He has a head wound too.”

I didn't move. I couldn't.

“Robyn,” Ben said, his voice louder and firmer, but still calm. “
Call 9-1-1
.”

I stood where I was, staring down at Mornov and the blood pooling in the snow. I said, “He tried to kill her, Ben.”

The look he gave me filled me with shame.

“He needs help, Robyn. If he doesn't get it, he's going to die.”

Even then he had to ask a third time before I staggered to Ms. Denholm's car, retrieved my phone from the cupholder, and made the call.

I didn't tell Charlie Hart all of that, but I wondered if Ben had told the officer who had taken his statement. I also wondered what Ben had thought when I'd stood there, frozen and unwilling to help. I wondered what he thought of me.

“Like I said,” Charlie Hart said, “he seems like a levelheaded kid. The ambulance guys said they don't think Mornov would be alive if it weren't for that young man.”

“Is he going to...is he going to be okay?” I said.

Charlie Hart shook his head. “I understand it doesn't look good.” He shifted a little in his chair. “Did anything else happen before the police arrived?” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“After Ms. Denholm shot Mikhail Mornov, before the police arrived, did anyone—Ms. Denholm or Ms. Rachlis, for example—say anything or do anything?”

I thought for a moment.

“Ms. Rachlis told Ms. Denholm that Mornov showed up at her apartment. She said he cornered her in her kitchen and tried to force her to tell him where Ms. Denholm was. He said he'd kill her if she didn't. She said he hit her. I guess that's why she was bleeding. She said when she saw Ms. Denholm's car, she knew she had to warn her.”

“She said she saw Ms. Denholm?” Charlie Hart said.

“Yes. She said she tried to get away from him, she started running downstairs to warn Ms. Denholm, but he chased her with the knife and said he was going to kill her.”

“Do you remember her exact words?”

I closed my eyes to visualize the moment. “She said, ‘Melissa, he wanted to kill me. He wanted to kill both of us.'”

“What about Ms. Denholm? Did she say anything?”

“No. She just dropped the gun and stood there and watched Ben trying to help Mornov. It looked like she was in shock. Then the police arrived.”

Charlie Hart looked across the table at me. “Is there anything else, Robyn? Anything at all that you remember?”

I shook my head.

. . .

My mother was sitting in the lobby of the police station. Ted was beside her. They both looked tired and tense. My mom stood up when she saw me. She rushed toward me and gave me a hug.

“Are you all right?” she said.

I nodded. “Where's Ben?”

“He left about ten minutes ago.”

“He did?” I had been hoping that he would be waiting for me. He wasn't. I thought again about how I had just frozen, whereas Ben had sprung into action. “Did he say anything?”

My mom shook her head. Ben probably thought I was a horrible person for not immediately calling for help. He probably wondered how I could be so heartless. My mom hooked a finger under my chin and made me look her in the eyes.

“How are you doing? You were there when it happened. Are you okay?”

I nodded. “I'm okay. Ms. Denholm didn't have any choice, Mom. He was attacking Ms. Rachlis.”

My mother shook her head. “We're not going to talk about it here, Robyn,” she said, sounding one hundred percent like a lawyer. She led me over to where Ted was sitting. He stood up.

“Are you okay, Robyn?” he said.

I nodded. “Where's Ms. Denholm?”

“The police are questioning her,” my mother said. She turned to Ted. “I'm going to take Robyn home.”

“Of course,” Ted said. “I'm going to wait for Melissa.”

They were two parents, acting like two parents.

My mother put a hand on Ted's arm.

“Call me,” she said. “I don't care how late it is, call me. I want to know that she's home safe with you.”

Ted kissed her lightly on the cheek. He didn't say anything.

. . .

My mother drove us home. Neither of us spoke on the way. The evening's events kept playing over and over in my head. Anyone who had doubted that Ms. Denholm was being stalked would have to believe her now. Mikhail Mornov had threatened Ms. Rachlis with a knife. Ben and I had seen it. If Ms. Denholm hadn't shot him, he might have killed her. Then he might have killed Ms. Denholm. I kept wondering, What would have happened if Ms. Denholm hadn't decided to go back to her apartment? Would Ms. Rachlis have told Mornov that Ms. Denholm had gone to my house? What if she had refused to tell? Would he really have killed her? Or if Ms. Denholm had arrived home five minutes later, would Ms. Rachlis still be alive?

My mom made hot chocolate. She was a big believer in the power of warm milk. It would calm me and help me get to sleep, she said. But once I was home I couldn't sit still and, in contrast to my silence earlier, I couldn't stop talking. I told my mom what I had told Charlie Hart—described for her, frame by frame, the movie that kept playing in my head. And then, just like that, I burst into tears. I was having what Charlie Hart would have called a reaction. I told her what Ben had done, what I had said. My mom hugged me and held me and told me I was going to be okay. She said it was a shock to see something like that. She said I shouldn't worry, that she was sure Ben understood. I couldn't tell whether she believed it or not.

“What about Ms. Denholm?” I said when I had calmed down a little. “What do you think is going to happen to her?”

“From what you described, it sounds as though she shot him because she thought he was going to kill Ms. Rachlis, and that she also had good reason to fear for her own life.”

“Will they charge her with anything?”

“There's a strong case for self-defense,” my mother said. “But I gather the gun she had was unregistered...We'll have to see, Robyn.”

“What if he dies?”

My mom looked even more solemn. “We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

I went up to my room, but I couldn't sleep. I couldn't read, either—couldn't make myself concentrate. I heard the phone ring and crept to my bedroom door to listen. From the soft tone of my mother's voice, I guessed she was talking to Ted. She stayed on the phone for a long time. Afterward she came upstairs to go to bed. On the way to her room, she pushed open my door.

“You're still awake,” she said, surprised. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. It was nearly three in the morning.

“I can't sleep,” I said.

“I'm not going to the office tomorrow,” she said. “I'm going to work here instead. I think you should stay home from school.”

“What did Ted say? What happened with Ms. Denholm?”

“They haven't charged her with anything yet. Ted's not sure if they're going to or not. He said the detectives he talked to seemed sympathetic, but they told him they were still investigating. They want to talk to Mornov if and when he regains consciousness. He said they appeared to give a lot of weight to what you and Ben told them.” She sighed. “It will take time. We'll just have to wait and see.”

M

organ showed up at my house after school the next day and demanded that I dish up the details.

“You have to promise you won't tell anyone else,” I said. “My mom and Ted would kill me if they knew I was talking about it.”

“I promise,” Morgan said. “But I can tell Billy, right?”

“Yes, you can tell Billy,” I said. Unlike Morgan, Billy wouldn't dream of sharing the information with anyone.

Morgan swore a solemn oath, and I filled her in.

“Wow,” she said. “Little Miss Denholm actually pumped lead into a guy?”

“She saved Ms. Rachlis's life.”

“I know. But, wow, I can't believe it.”

“I was there, and I can hardly believe it,” I said. We talked about it a little longer. Then Morgan said, “What's up with you and Ben?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, the last I heard, you were doing a Patricia and telling him you needed more time. Then I hear how he happens to arrive at your house just in time to get you to Ms. Denholm's place, where you witness Ms. Denholm saving Ms. Rachlis from Ms. Denholm's psycho ex-boyfriend. How did that happen? Was it a coincidence?”